Tag Archives: Amateur

Practice makes perfect, or at least doing something over and over again statistically increases your chances of getting it right. This is a key theme for me in photography – and I think a helpful tip for anyone trying to take good photos on a tight budget.

It’s very easy to get blown away or intimidated by some of the truly awesome photos out there taken by professionals, or occasionally by a lucky amateur in the right place at the right time. A key thing that can be learned from all of these photos, though, is to put yourself in the right place, at the right time. Also, know what to do when you find yourself there.

…a traveler from the tropics may be amazed at the site of a swan – which are common-as-muck in temperate countries, but completely absent from Africa and huge swathes of Central and South America and Asia.

I thought today, it might be fun to think about wildlife photography. This is a real passion of mine, and I try to take photos of the animals I find around me all the time. Many of mine lack the finesse and perfection of the work of the experts, but I think I have managed to get some nice images over time and this is almost certainly because I repeatedly set myself challenges and will carry on trying until I’m pleased with the result (and will carry on trying to get better even after that).

A friendly sheep in the field behind my office, shot with my mobile phone. (He wanted me to feed him fresh grass so trotted over).A common grey squirrel on the miniature train tracks in a local park.

To make an obvious statement; you can categorize wildlife photos into two sorts: Photos of exotic animals where the simple inclusion of the animal itself makes the subject interesting and photos of everyday animals where you need to capture something more to keep the viewer interested.

If we examine this statement closely, though, how true is it really? After all, the animals which are exotic to you will seem everyday to someone else. The locals in Thailand (or even the South of France!) always laugh at me for spending my time taking photos of lizards, of which we see very few in England but are literally everywhere, there. Similarly, a traveler from the tropics may be amazed at the site of a swan – which are common-as-muck in temperate countries, but completely absent from Africa and huge swathes of Central and South America and Asia.

Swanning around – a different take on a swan, as it comes into land.Gulls fighting at the lake behind my house.

On this basis – I would recommend you set yourself a challenge and get out near where you live regularly and try and shoot the animals that you find. There’s no need to worry too much about what equipment your using. True – to shoot distant subjects you will need a long lens and to shoot really close-up you will need some sort of macro kit. This can be a lot of fun (and I’d encourage you to try it) but most animals can be shot with just a compact camera or a smart phone and a bit of patience. Just try to get yourself into the right place and learn how to get close to the animals, whether domestic or wild. After all, taking a photo of an animal is free!

…the time you spend practicing on every-day animals will mean you get better shots of the ones that excite you. You might even get one of those magic shots that makes the ordinary look extraordinary.

If you get the chance, also try taking photos of animals at the zoo, or somewhere like Longleat safari park, or just at a farm.

In some cases, its a question of quietly “stalking” and not startling an animal. In other cases, it might be a case of attracting it over. Remember, a lot of animals have very sharp hearing and eyesight, so even if you’re shooting from a distance, sudden movements could scare them off. A hint, for example, is never make eye contact with a wild deer…

The great thing about doing this near your home and with your local wildlife is that you will learn skills which will stand you in good stead when you’re face-to-face with a more exotic animal, on holiday, or in those great chance encounters, like a barn owl sitting in your garden fence. So the time you spend practicing on every-day animals will mean you get better shots of the ones that excite you. You might even get one of those magic shots that makes the ordinary look extraordinary. (Check out the British Wildlife Photography Awards website for some great examples).

A friend of mine recently asked me the simple question: “What sort of camera should I buy?”

I looked at him a blankly and was initially very unhelpful. Not deliberately, mind you. It’s just that there are so many different types of camera out there, with different advantages and disadvantages, prices and sizes. After a few minutes I managed to ask him what sort of photos he wanted to take, and what he wanted his camera for.

“Everything.” He said.

Now, I love a challenge, and I got to thinking about what sort of cameras you can use for everything – or at least what sort of camera you can use in the majority of situations. Obviously, budget has to be a consideration, so I asked him how much money he had to spend, and he decided that about £200 was a good figure to settle on.

To a lot of people (me included!) £200 is a lot of money to lay out in one go, and a lot of people would never dream of spending so much on a camera (me not included). But as high-end professional cameras can be in the tens of thousands of pounds, clearly some compromises need to be made somewhere when coming up with our solution to “everything” for £200.

My first suggestion was therefore a bridge camera which tend to be “good all-rounders”. There are some very powerful options available for around £200 either used or new, with zooms in the 30x to 50x range. (Particular favorites of mine would be the Fuji Finepix HS range, with manual focus and zoom rings, like a DSLR, but there are great options out there from all of the major camera manufacturers).

Nearly all of these new superzoom bridge cameras have DSLR-like controls for Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO etc., and will come with an electronic viewfinder. However, they tend to have smaller maximum apertures and smaller sensors, so they are not as good for beautiful soft, out-of-focus backgrounds and their lenses tend to struggle at long focal lengths in difficult lighting conditions.

But is there another option? Is it even possible to get a DSLR, with a set of additional lenses, to give you the versatility of a bridge camera for the same price?

The challenge

I should set some rules out for this challenge before I get it underway, because there are clearly going to be differences in the overall specifications and results achievable between Bridge Cameras and second hand DSLRs, the point is, though, that the ultimate quality of the end image must be acceptable. Here are my ground rules for the challenge:

The equipment bought/identified does not have to be new (since the cheapest DSLRs are commonly more than £200 with a kit lens new).

The equipment does have to be in fully working condition (cosmetic ware is fine, but no scratched lenses, or broken screens etc.)

The final kit does not have to take up as little space as a bridge camera – but it does have to be portable, and transportable in a single bag.

The final kit must be capable of taking photos of at least 10.1MP (considered the minimum for proper “photo quality” A4 / 8″ x 12″ photographic prints).

The final kit must be capable of at least ISO 6400 (which is at least faster than traditional film, though not much to shout about compared to some modern Bridge cameras).

The final kit must be capable of a wide-angle to super-telephoto zoom (ideally of over 30X).

Evidence of the availability of the item at that price (as at September / October 2014) should be shown – no open ebay bids!

The kit must be capable of macro.

So here goes…

Apologies to any Nikon fanatics out there – but I have plumped for Canon in this test for two reasons. Second hand Canon gear tends to be a bit cheaper, and because I am a Canon user myself, I can vouch for how well the items mentioned here work.

The Camera:Either a Canon EOS 400D or Canon EOS 1000D. Both available for around £100 – £120, including a 18-55mm kit lens:

Canon EOS 400D – The evidence, listed on Gum Tree for £100 with a Mk II 18-55mm kit lens (the type with no image stabilization, but one I own and have used a lot).Canon EOS 1000D also with an 18-55mm kit lens (the first DSLR I ever owned!) – this one is £120, though I have seen them on sale for less occasionally. They are available for around £80 without the lens on gumtree today.

The Lenses and adapters:

Canon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens (free with body) – a wide angle to portrait length zoom lens – which can be found from as little as £25 without Image Stabilization, if you buy the camera body separately, such as the 1000D, available for £80.

Canon 75-300mm F/4.5-5.6 Lens, £45 (inc P&P):

Canon 75-300 F/4.5-5.6 Lens – available for around £45 (or less if you have patience bidding on ebay). Also look out for the excellent Tamron 70-300mm lens.

Jessops 2x teleconverter (Canon Fit) – £40 (also available from Kenko and similar brands). WARNING!! These can be very variable in price, so you will need to do a lot of searching to find a bargain! Also do not buy a screw fit, filter ring type. They do not do the same thing, and they do not work anything like as well! They’re frankly rubbish.

Jessops 2x teleconverter

Set of 4 macro / close-up lenses – £7.50. In this case, for a 58mm filter ring size – which will therefore work with both the 18-55mm and 75-300mm Canon lenses. If you were to, instead, buy something like the Tamron 70-300mm lens, you would want a 62mm thread size and a step-up ring for the 18-55mm lens.

The kit has a focal range of 8.1mm to 600mm (technically a 74X magnification from widest angle to longest focal length) – and a 35mm equivalent range of 13mm to 960mm focal lengths.

But how much space does it take up? Does it fit in a bag?

Yes it does (just!):

The full kit – for £195, all fits in a bag (which I got for 50p in a local charity shop).

But is it any good?

Well – I think it is! A lot of this is equipment which I use pretty regularly in the tests throughout this site. There are a number of macro images already online, so I won’t dwell on these – but the full extent of the 600mm zoom hasn’t been demonstrated before. Sure, there is some chromatic aberration, but it would be much worse on a bridge camera:

Shot with at 600mm on a Canon EOS APS-C sensor camera, which gives a 35mm equivalent focal of a whopping 960mm. This was achieved with a cheap 75-300mm tele zoom and a 2x teleconverter

Then at the extreme wide angle end things look like this – which is wider than can be achieved on a bridge camera without a similar converter:

Basilique Saint-Sernin, Toulouse – which is too big and surrounded by trees to be conveniently shot without a fisheye – in this case a cheap 58mm screw-fit adapter on an 18-55mm kit lens.

I say everyone, but I’m not sure that anyone will find this straight away. This is my first entry in my new blog, Shooting on a Shoestring, and well, my first blog entry ever! I’m new to this, so bear with me…

Over the next few months and years, I’d like to invite you all on a journey in photography, helping everyone to take the best pictures possible on a tight budget. I would welcome comments and advice from any readers (so feel free to leave comments etc.) because I am always looking for new ideas, and I know a lot of other photographers are too.

One of my biggest bugbears as an amateur photographer is asking about equipment and being told the only way to achieve something is by spending lots of money. A classic example is wildlife photography, where you often want to take photos of something very close (macro) or very far away (telescopic). In these areas, lens prices from the major brands can get pretty astronomical, pretty quickly. These are areas I will return to (probably several times) – but this blog isn’t just focused on specific lenses or SLR equipment. It will also look at software, the web, cameraphones, point and shoot cameras, cheap printing methods, scanning techniques, classes and a whole range of other items that I haven’t thought of yet. It will also cover challenges and games for those who want to get involved.

So – who am I?

I’m Alex Denny, and I’m a keen (and still learning) amateur photographer. When high street camera shops still existed, I used to work in my local one in Tonbridge in Kent (called Camera Gear). We sold new and second hand cameras, as well as developed colour prints on various automatic processors and black and white prints in a dark room on site. My early days in photography were therefore very much based in film (and as I’m in my 30s, I still remember the days when digital wasn’t really around) – but these days it’s nearly all digital. The focus of this blog will be mainly digital as it’s quite a bit cheaper these days, but I will look at techniques for film as and when it comes up.

I’m interested in all sorts of images and types of photography – but in general I want to capture the wonder of the world around me. I’m a keen naturalist and animal lover. I’m fascinated with wildlife large and small, but also the great expanses of the countryside, of the night sky, of mountains and rivers and of all sorts of travel. I love diving and I love flying, so nothing is therefore off limits.

I can’t claim to be an expert at shooting any of these things. I’m still learning. The aim of this blog is to help us all get to the stage where we can capture the images we want to without breaking the bank.

I hope you’ll join me on the journey!

Alex Denny is a keen photographer, diver and animal lover and the writer of this blog.

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